About my comments in class...

Yes, currently being "green" can be competitive advantage for companies.  Not only is society demanding it, but there are now tax benefits for it, and as Doug pointed out in class, there are cost benefits and efficiencies that can be gained by it.  HOWEVER, we were talking about future companies, and my point was that in the future, it should not and will not be rewarded.  It will be expected.  That's all I'm sayin'. 

I thought it was interesting that so many groups came to the consensus that being specialized would be a characteristic of future companies.  I'm still not exactly clear what that means since so many of my strategy courses have focused on not narrowly defining the company's purpose or mission.  Aks told us to be mindful of the future and how our company's industries could develop.  For example, train companies narrowly defined their purpose as being rail companies instead of transport companies and languished.  Or oil companies being mired in being oil companies and not energy companies.   I suppose "specialized" does not mean "specific."  However, in the ever changing environment that we currently live, it seems to a company's advantage to be able to change quickly and be flexible with the products and services they offer.  I would imagine that in the future, these industry changes would happen even quicker than they do now, and a key characteristic would not be to be specialized but to be flexible and adaptable to the changing environment and their clients' needs.